InsaneTek

BFG Geforce 6800 OC

I always liked the idea of having a package that shows the actual product.  BFG's packaging provides a clear window for buyers to see just exactly what they're buying.  Video card manufacturers are supplying good software bundles now, and BFG includes a retail copy of Far Cry.  Accessories such as the 4pin power cable and the DVI-to-VGA connector are also included.

The card comes protected inside a clear plastic box.  There was no anti-static bag used.  Nowadays, many hardware products are packaged without anti-static bags, such as memory.  While it would be much better with an anti-static bag, not one having is not a big deal anymore.  The 6800 OC deviated from the usual reference heatsink design and comes equipped with a two fan copper heatsink, secured by four screws through the back of the video card like the Arctic Cooling Silencers.  The heatsink has a small heatpipe to distribute the heat across the heatsink evenly.  The ram chips are layered with a thick thermal pad to help transfer heat to the heatsink.  BFG should've made steppings on the heatsink for ram chips and use some thermal paste for better heat dissipation.  The memory chips used are Hynix 2.2ns memory, which is much faster and allows for higher overclocking headroom than the standard 2.8ns chips that are used for regular Geforce 6800s.  The thick thermal pad was actually attached quite well.  It ripped off all the markings on the memory chips.

The GPU core was layered with a typical pink thermal pad.  All tests were conducted with the use of this pink pad.  I removed the pink pad and applied some OCZ Ultra 5 thermal paste in hopes to achieve better cooling.  Boy did it help.  Overclocking will be covered later on in the review.

The 6800, like the 6800GT, comes with one power connector.  The video card requires a minimum 300W power supply in order for the card to function well.  This means that if you're looking to upgrade, be sure to pick up a good power supply as well.  Be sure to also check out some of our power supply reviews for recommendations.  A generic 500W power supply isn't going to cut it.  The efficiency on those poorly built power supplies can be lower than 300W at times.  Remember, quality over quantity.  The 6800 comes with the standard VGA, DVI, and S-video outputs.